15
We've
become
addicted
to winning
sporting
teams.
For a sports-mad nation that expects
nothing less than victory and gold, and
hails elite athletes as heroes, its sporting
reputation was in danger of being
shredded.
The headlines and cloud of scandal threatened
millions of dollars in sponsorship and implicated
even innocent athletes by association.
All this happened at a time when the country's
sporting prowess was already under the microscope
due to the tawdry behaviour of male members of the
Olympic swimming team, which was believed to
be responsible for their less than stellar performance
at the London games.
A number of Australian cyclists had also been
accused of the same kind of cheating as disgraced
former seven-time Tour de France winner Lance
Armstrong and the use of illegal performance-
enhancing drugs. They were at the centre of the
Wood Review into cycling, which identified
governance shortcomings as central reasons for
failures in the competitive, business or ethical
standards in the sport.
Australian cricket has not been without
scrutiny either, with suspicions raised about
m atches being thrown a nd players providing
sensitive information to bookmakers.
In the months since the bombshell doping report,
appropriately na med Project Aperio (Latin for 'to lay
bare'), clubs, teams, officials and sporting bodies have
taken a hard look inside their organisations -- with
some sports, such a s football, outing their culprits.
The extent of the illegalities and the sporting
codes involved is still unravelling, but with
the spotlight on coaches, sports scientists,
administrators and boards, a fuller picture is
emerging of the culture and business of Australian
sport -- shining light on how winning at all costs
and taking unacceptable risks has come at the
expense of compliance and good governance. X
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